NINETEEN FOR THE FIRING LINE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3192, 17 September 1917, Page 7

NINETEEN FOR THE FIRING LINE

AND-THE EXEMPT OF CLERGY (By L. B.) ' That the Government now proposes to allow boys of nineteen to volunteer for the front, provided their parents allow them, is not, one would think, a matter which the people of this country can contemplate with any degree of «»hsSiction, even though the proposal to apply conscription to' youths of that ago has bßen dropped, owing to the ™rf indignation which swept throughout tho Dominion as soon as it was known what wT contemplated. Tho anjumimta which wore brought forward in tho House at the time when theJM*"? Service Act was being considered agnurt the services of boys of that agefoi.tho front still hold good, and in fact,.owing to the drain upon our oven greater force when considering the future of the country. One which has been used with tne greatest effect against tho idea of boys under twenty seeing, and one that has beenjnueh supported by returned soldier* ws that the boys could not stand the nerve and body strain which tho conditions, of this great war have made so terribly exact-fng-a strain which many ?f°L%% Zed constitutions and mental faculty have found intolerable. The convic tions of such a man as Colonel Mack^ esey cannot be lightly brushed Wide and be was most emphatic m his dsnnnciations of allowing boys to go, ™ t ! fact that they were tho first to boat tacked by disease through their lmniatUSome of the opinions expressedj in the House when the Military Sei-vicoßU was before the consideration of mem , bers are rather worth .anotog. »£ 1 Hornsby, member for Wairarapa, i sa«l tig course of a lengthy . address upon conscription: "It (?° nsc «P h ?f f lrice of have done away with the or bojs of eighteen and I ,*™ age joining the colours; itwould hwe done away with a lot of the: kino. Of thing called moral suasion gone on in this country-a system wnicu is much worse than coDsc^tiMi. Mr T. W. Rhodes, member for Thames, said:' "Now with regard to the age laid down in tho Bill as tho age *« «F"£ to my mind we are starting with too young an age. Tho Bill providesr lor [wenty to foWi I think* ought to be from twenty-four to fifty oi even i.flfty-fiyo. Men who havo attained more 'than their -majority are oertainly as a rule bettor able to withstand hardship i and privation than those whe» have i aot They know a little more of the ways oi the world. But under any circumstance it cannot be right to send away to the battle-front lads who have had no vote or voice in the conduct of the affairs of tho country,;. • • e fl f* 'on the opinion of medical men that tho present minimum ago is too young, and wc have it also.from oncers who are sei-vinglt the front, and their opinions should havo'weight with us. Mr. Dickie (member for Solwyn) did not go quite so far as Mr. Rhodes. Hte opinion was expressed as follows:- 1 am ono of theso-and I-have always madeit plain-who think that hoys of ess than twenty should not be allowed to enlist- . It has beon proved that they have not.tho stamina, and cannot stand 'wlioTm?.' Hornsby spoke of *moral I suasion" ho spoko of a very potent force which had been used to some considerable extent in driving mere boys-to enlist. He cited an example ot the case oi a well set-up boy verging on _ nineteen who had been taunted by his school companions because he had not t gone to the war, and if tho fact is given, out broadcast that boys of nineteen, will be. allowed to go to the front tho same uso of "moral suasion" will again do made, possibly to ail evon greater extent because of the imminent calling up of the married men. Women who held back their menfolk before conscription was brought in will not hesitate to urge boys of nineteen to enlist if they think it will help to stave off even for a little whilo tho conscription of their husbands. lo save the.Government .a little embarrassment and trouble, advantage is to bo taken of the gallant-spirited lads of nineteen who will idol it their duty to, come forward in these altered circumstances.. If they had the toughened fibre that older men possess no one I would object or regard it as being a I waste-of material that would bo far i more useful in a year or two's time. I Examples have frequently been quoted oi boys of sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen years of age who have enlisted sometimes in the Imperial Army, but statistics have not ..been given, so far as the writer's knowledgo goes, of how boys of immature years nave stood campaigning. It should throw some light upon tho subjeot if such could bo. done-, starting from tho outbreak of war, and including those who have fought not only in our own forces, but in the Imperial and Australian forces. ' Another matter that bears-more or less directly upon ■ this matter of boys ot nineteen being allowed to enlist is tho proposed exemption of. clergy. It is, of course, self-evident that every man of fighting age who is exempted.has to be made good from other sources, and so to take the place of those exempted— members of a calling whose, great principle has'been self-sacrifice, even to the laying down of life for others—these immature lads are practically appealed to. It does not seem to strike the heads of the religious denominations that have been moro or less conspicuous in the matter of appealing for exemptions that thev are striking one of the biggest blows to 'their calling that can possibly be struck, that is, in the mind of those people, ' tiresome, perhaps, who look for the actual practice of what has been taught as ono of the highest principles of religion. It is a truism to say that this war is no ordinary war, but when it is considered what is dependent, upon its issues—the fate of all that is un inspiration of life, of all that* makes it worth living, even of religion itself—for God would indoerl have withdrawn Himself from the world if the Germans were to win—then it ?eoms in the light of one's own reason that the one and only issue before all else is "win the war,' and every man of fighting, ape and bodily equipment is needed. What comfort can any member of the clergy or ministry of military age bring to the mother who lias lost a lad of nineteen years of age? His words, his teaching would seem to her mockery, because when the great lest came to make his religion a living force,' an embodiment of the great law of self-sacrifice, he took shelter behind tho law of exemption. . This is a fact that the clergy will do well to oxamine, and yet another equally emphatic one is this—that many of thß soldiers who are- coming back to us are men who havo gone down to. tho very depths of hell, who have parted with all illusions.. Are these representatives of religion who have stayed at homo going to have any weight with these men? Can they, who have not .paid tho price, havo any influence with men who have given so much that lifo may be worth living for us?

Wo have heard and read something of what has been eaid in regard to the socalled religious revival in France. With such an example as that eefc by the sol-dier-priests, of Trance who could wonder if that were the case? The London "Tablet," an organ of Roman. Catholicism at Home, has written very fully upon the great services dono for the soldiers by their comrades, the eoldier-pricßls of France. In an article,' "Tho Oblates of tho Battlefield," a quotation is made from tho letter of a young soldier-priest: "To dio young, to die its a soldier-priest, in an attack, in a rush forward, in my full priestly ministry, giving perhaps a last absolution; to shed my blood for the Church, for France, for my friends, tor all thoso who carry in their hearts the samo ideal as myself, and for others that they may know the joy of believing . . . Ah, how'beautiful this is." In the words of Cardinal Lucon. Archbishop of IJeiins, also quoted, their parish is now ' the regiment, the trench, and the hospital; if they fall there, their comrades fall there too, and so it is but fitting that the phalanx of priests also should give its blood for the fatherland." What more could one desire than such sentiments and such deeds? Again, France is the alory of the world, a living flame among the nations. In a report to the French Senate on the revision of the law. on those who rejoin or are exempted from military service, M. Cheron rendered unaccustomed

hoinago to tho ecclesiastics who havo been mobilised:— "Since tho beginning of the war,' ho said, "tho members of tho clergy, tho ministers of various religions havo, liko. all other classes of citizens, observed an attitude that is worthy of all praise. Many religious have come- baok.from abroad to defend Prance. The ecclesiastics w?T6 uftf not ftSl under: Article 23 of the Law of July 15, ISB9-and they were very numerous—have mingled in the trenches with our brave teachers, whose heroism will be a lasting honour to tbo nation and its schools. Many priests havo fallen gloriously in the face of tho enemy. Those who come under Article 23 have .dono their duty in the ambulances or in the hospitals. They ask for no exception, favour, or privilege.'" Although tho war is not in our country, it is yet just as vital to us as it is to Franco, but it seems to be just this distahco from horror, from bloodshed, and from indescribable vandalism that has blinded tho eyes of the religiousauthorities in this country. How can the governing clergy of any church find it possible te fall behind the example of Prance and incidentally to take advantage of the generous enthusiasm of ungrown